Some software applications include technology components for which licensing or royalty fees must be paid to a licensing pool or a licensor. These licensing fees are paid by the software company, such as Adobe Systems Incorporated, as opposed to an end user of the software application. Some of these licensing payments are substantial and can severely affect the profitability of a product, especially in the consumer space. Under the terms of certain licensing agreements, payment is required as long as a component resides on a user's computer. Even though a user may not necessarily have used a component that is installed on or otherwise residing on his computer, a licensing fee must be paid for the component. It would be useful to develop new techniques for reducing payments associated with licensing fees.